Pebble Wrestling in Murgtal

It had been quite wet recently with even some fresh snow in the high alpine. This severely restricted our options for proper climbing. Thus, for the first time ever, I allowed myself to be convinced to go "pebble wrestling". Bouldering. This abominable form of climbing, where instead of striving for the majestic peaks, you content yourself with crawling around the debris that fell off them. An occupation for slugs and other slimy insects. Deplorable.

Luigi on our warm-up problem.

Nice surroundings.

The road up was still closed for cars, so we had to walk quite a bit.

Mark, Luigi and Piotr provided the necessary gear in the form of crashpads and off we went towards Murgtal. It turned out to be a decently fun day. Trying ourselves at way too hard problems (definitely for my current fitness level). I still managed to scale a few rocks, albeit in more of a grunting and swearing style rather than the weightless elegance you'd expect from me ;-)

Perfect bike path.

I have to admit, bouldering does have some things going for it. If only I had brought beer.

Diagonal Mark.

Piotr demonstrating a proper sit-start.

Luigi crimping hard.

Just about our high point on this problem. It's a 7a and got quite grimy and crumbly towards the top. Not to mention somewhat exposed.

Who came up with the idea of starting in a sitting position? Just jump to the frickin' top already.

See?! I did top out.

Piotr.

Luigi.